Outcast
by Blarggy
Summary: Poor Hamano Takumi, he always was an outcast, even in the Shinigami Academy! [No pairings at this time, set after Winter War.]
1. Chapter 1

Outcast

A Bleach fanfiction

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or anything besides my laptop.

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Hamano Takumi was never the most popular kid, nor was he the most wealthy. In fact, you might say he's the opposite of both of those.

Growing up in the 76th District of Rukongai was hard. Not as hard, perhaps, as growing up in one of the dirtier districts. But the 76th was full of murderers, thieves, and old men who would rather stuff their faces and watch a child die than share a few fruits.

There were very few nobles there, and the few that were there did not share their wealth in the least. Leaving the 'commoners' to die on the grimey streets. Nonetheless, Hamano continued fighting to live until he was 18 years old. Or around that age, anyway.

Hamano had been born in Soul Society, in the 78th District, before being informally adopted by a small family and brought to the 76th. Unfortunately, his foster parents and his siblings were killed when he was still very young. He couldn't remember much of them. Wide smiles and lots of laughter prevailed whenever he thought of them.

A tragedy if there ever was one. A child of about 4 years old surviving on his own. The friendly couple that gave him food and water whenever they could remembered him as a boy.

'_He was a small boy, always rather short for his age. His midnight black hair always hung loose around his face. He was never well-trimmed, so his hair was always growing out. His eyes were a surprising shade of violet, more perfect than ink. But the thing that stood out, despite being an orphan on the streets, he always had the biggest smile on his face.'_

Said small boy was now a startling 5'5", still incredibly short. He didn't mind it though, it gave him an advantage in moving through the crowds. Continuing with his story; when he turned 18, he was approached by several drunk Shinigami soldiers. Probably unseated as they all carried nameless zanpakuto. They pushed Hamano into a corner, urging for a confrontation. Before they realized what happened, they were all unconscious on the floor. Hamano wasn't sure, to this day, how it happened, but he took down several Shinigami without breaking a sweat.

Three days later, a representative for the Shinigami Academy approached him, handing him a small letter of acceptance. He was accepted into the Academy two days later without ever having applied. The School had found out about his encounter with the drunkards, and realized quickly that he had been unconsciously pumping reiatsu into all of his punches and even his movements.

They tracked him down via his strong reiatsu and soon enough he was taking up residence in the school's nearest dorms. He was to have two roommates, equally strong as him and who were to be in the same level First Year classes as he.

That level, specifically, was level two classes. Not quite level one, but level two students were always competing with level one to prove they were just as good. Often times a level two student who tried so hard to prove he was better was shunted up to level one because he became better.

Competition begets success.

Or so the Academy officials believed.

Hamano Takumi and his roomates, Yamada Urayuri who comes from a low level noble servant family, and Ryujin Kuchiki who was a high level noble from the Kuchiki clan. Ryujin insisted on going to a normal dorm instead of the manor house that was prepared for him for his school years. He was thrilled to live without having hundreds of servants annoying him at all hours of the day.

The three boys were given several sets of clothes including three Academy outfits to cycle for cleaning, on the first day of the school year. They introduced themselves(Yamada gasped when he found out Ryujin was a Kuchiki), and soon were heading to the orientation class for all first years.

In short, it was a series of long boring speeches stating school rules and what they were aiming to accomplish. General safety regulations were also laid of there, none of which Yamada or Hamano listened to, as they were busy chatting about zanpakuto and kidou classes.

The first class the trio headed off to was History class, where they learned key events and discoveries, as well as important leaders and decisions. The first thing the professor asked once his large class had settled in the theater-like room was this.

"Who in this class knows what happened in the Arrancar war?"

A few hands were raised, including Ryujin's, who was 'lucky' enough to be called. He spoke fluidly and quickly, clearly versed with the knowledge of the war.

"Twenty three years ago, Vice Captain Kurosaki, then a low seated officer in Division 13, was to be executed by the Soukyoku on fake orders from the Traitor Aizen Sousuke. Captain Ichigo Kurosaki, then only a ryoka, and a human, saved her from the execution at the last minute. Aizen's plan to get the Hougyoku from her soul was foiled, so he had to reveal himself as the orchestrator of the plot. He killed Central 46, and made up the decisions that were sent to the Squads. He escaped to Hueco Mundo after removing the Hougyoku from Vice Captain Kurosaki's soul manually. Soon after, the 13 Squads planned an incursion, and Captain Kurosaki, in the process of saving his friend, killed Aizen Sousuke and his followers, and destroyed the Hougyoku."

After the long winded speech, the professor smiled at him. "Very well spoken...Kuchiki. Ah, that explains your knowledge. Captain Kurosaki fought with your relative, Byakuya Kuchiki, and defeated him on the Soukyoku hill."

The remainder of the class was increasingly boring as they discussed the founding of the Academy, or rather, the professor droned on about it.

They were soon let out and the three went to their next class; Zanjutsu.

"Finally something practical." Hamano sighed as they sat on the perfect green grass on the outside training area.

"You do need to learn about the past to avoid making the same mistakes." Ryujin stated.

"So you say, Ryu. But I'm getting along fine without it." Hamano quipped.

"I think Hamano's right. We should be learning to fight." Yamada added.

"Being in the 13 squads is not all fighting." The Kuchiki stated before going quiet.

Their rather large and imposing instructor had begun to speak. He was talking about how knowing Zanjutsu will make or break you as a shinigami. He had two Asauchi(nameless zanpakuto) in his hand, but he had a zanpakuto at his belt, apparently his real one.

Finally he broke from his rant and spoke up. "Anyone with decent skill care to spar with me to show the class?"

Nobody moved.

"Fine, then I'll pick someone...you there, purple-eyes." he said, pointing at Hamano.

"Go, Hamano!" Yamada pushed him up, clearly relieved it wasn't him.

The Kuchiki kept his cool.

"What's your name?" the instructor asked as Hamano moved to the circular sparring area.

"Hamano Takumi, sir." Hamano said sheepishly.

"Hamano, eh? What a girly name." He boomed, his deep voice filling the hall. Several students laughed. The burly man tossed one of the asauchi to Hamano and drew the other. He was instructing Hamano on the correct posture before they started, and they both stood in the customary positions.

"Start when ready," the instructor said calmly, his sword pointing toward the smaller first year. Hamano moved forward, striking toward the instructor's exposed thigh. The blade was parried by the man, pushing it back out and slashing up towards Hamano's shoulder. The blades were dulled, so they would only bruise, but Hamano hadn't realized that yet.

He pulled the blade down, blocking the strike with the side of the hand guard. He used his newfound leverage to push the instructor's blade up, he brought the end of the hilt and used it to slam into the larger man's chest. He stumbled backwards under the blow, much to the amazement of the students. Hamano had unconsciously applied reiatsu to the blow. He quickly jumped on his chance and brought the sharp of the blade to the instructor's neck, marvelling at his luck.

"Humph. Well done, for a first year. I may have to try next time." He added with a smirk while resting his hand on his Zanpakuto. Hamano quickly sat down as the instructor began talking about the names of zanpakuto and what they meant.

"That was amazing, Hamano!"

"You managed to beat an instructor on the first day. Well done." Somehow the Kuchiki was still eerily calm, especially in comparison with Yamada. The rest of the class raced by, they were all paying close attention, most of the class was very interested in Zanjutsu, moreso than History.

The next period was a break with lunch, which they chose to eat outside in the courtyard. Several groups of girls walked by, chatting and pointing at the three boys. ("They're probably talking about you beating the instructor!" a smirking Yamada said)

The class after lunch was Kidou, which ended up being all theory and no practice. They all took notes under the shade of a large tree about what the different spells were and some of the incantations. The day was flying by, and soon they were at the last class of the day, which was a combination of Hakudo and Hohou. They spent the rest of the day practicing throwing each other over the shoulder, while the other attempted to recover in mid air.

Hamano and Ryujin were doing fairly well paired up, and were both successful in recovering in mid air and landing on their feet. They both progressed to the next move in the textbooks they had been given, which was countering after recovering. Ryujin ended up tossing Hamano a good few yards away, winding him. Ryujin may have been a noble, but he was by far a weakling. He was well toned and fairly muscular.

Yamada was able to recover in midair after a few tries with his partner(a rather curvy girl with long black hair and deep brown eyes), but he was having trouble flipping her correctly, as he was lacking in the physical strength department. It was either that or that he was unwilling to toss the petite girl.

The class was over soon thereafter, and the girl had joined the trio. "Hello, I'm Thea Rakina." she said with a polite bow.(Pronounced 'Tae-yah Rahkeynuh') They soon found out that she was very new to Soul Society, having died only two months ago, but her reiatsu was so strong she was enrolled early. The girl had only been 17 for a day before she was murdered by a serial killer, quite traumatizing, they assumed. But she didn't seem very traumatized, instead, she was all smiles.

They went to dinner together, eating at the large dining hall, discussing their first day. They soon found that Thea was in all their classes except for History, she was in a lower level class due to her being new to Soul Society.

An older student soon walked up to the group, flanked by a few smaller kids, it made him seem bigger than he was. "Hey Thea, why're you hanging out with a bunch of nerdy first years? You can come hang with us."

Thea gave him the most disdainful look Hamano had ever seen. "I'm a first year as well, Beo."

"Yeah, but you've got permission to hang with us third years. Maybe I'll even teach you to listen to your zanpakuto." he said smirking.

"No thanks, Beo." she said, frowning annd turning back to said first year nerds. Beo's hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder, jerking her towards him to look at him.

"I'm givin' you the chance to come hang out with the real Shinigami, instead of these idiots." By his tone, it was obvious Beo was not used to losing.

"I believe she said no, and you should respect that." Ryujin's calm voice broke the silence.

"Back off, idiot." Hamano's normally cool violet eyes were shining angrily. Something about grabbing a woman seemed to anger him.

Beo's hand didn't move from her shoulder. "Or what, Outcast? Gonna attack me?" his free hand moved to the hilt of his zanpakuto and grasped it firmly, smirking.

Evidently this threat went unnoticed, Hamano moved quickly, one hand pushing end of the hilt and keeping it sheathed, his other came swinging up and slammed into Beo's elbow. Yelling his surprise, he jerked back, releasing Thea as his arm went upwards.

Hamano's elbow soon met with Beo's chest in a reiatsu filled blow that sent the older boy flying backwards into his cronies. Hamano's reiatsu kept raising due to his anger, emotion controlled much of reiatsu's power. He stood straight as the cronies backed up, grasping their zanpakuto. The room was hushed aside from the teachers now trying to get to them before anything could happen.

But before Hamano could lunge, he was being held back. Ryujin Kuchiki was holding his arms in place and Yamada was pushing him backwards, away from the other third years. Soon enough, the professors were asking him about the incident, insisting that it was not his fault and sending Beo to the infirmary.

"He's a bad kid. Always causing trouble, only the 11th division is even looking at him." One teacher stated before allowing Hamano to sit back down with his friends.

"Thanks, Takumi." Thea said quietly, rubbing her shoulder.

"Yeah...I hate it when guys try to force a girl to do anything. It pisses me off." His eyes were back to their normal calm violet, shrugging, he went back to eating.

They parted with Thea on the walk to the dorms, she heading over to the first year girls dorm, the trio heading to the boys dorms. Before long they were beginning the homework assigned.

"First day of the Academy and we're already doing homework." Yamada sighed, memorizing Kidou incantations while Ryujin and Hamano practiced the throwing and recovering on a cleared area in the main living room. Yamada was slightly jealous, watching them toss each other around in a coordinated way.

Ryujin spiced things up halfway through by turning around midair, hooking his leg under Hamano's throwing arm, and spinning his body downward to drive Hamano into the floor and land on his feet, grinning. "Hakudo is definately going to be my specialty."

"Yeah, well find me a bokken, jerk." Hamano said, grinning casually as he stood. Yamada sighed again

_"The beginning of a wonderful rivalry."_

Yamada, at least, saw that they would be fighting to see who's better and to improve for the rest of their days here at the academy.

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Working on two fanfics at once. I couldn't help it, this idea just sprang to mind and had to be done. Review!

Blarggy


	2. Chapter 2

Outcast, Chapter two.

A Bleach fanfiction

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or anything besides my laptop.

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The next days passed equally as boring, without Beo to bother them, the four finished their work and homework in the dinner hall, and decided to hang out at the courtyard for a while after school.

"I think we impressed Professor Shaw today when you showed him that leg thing. It was pretty cool." Hamano and Ryu were back to talking about melee while Thea and Yamada talked about correct incantations for Kidou. They were to learn the first binding spell tomorrow and practice on fellow students, so they wanted to do a good job. Hamano disappeared for a while before returning with two wooden swords. He and Ryu started practicing zanjutsu, while Thea and Yamada tried to bind one another. With varying success, sometimes one arm would be bound for a few moments, other times their finger was 'hard' to move.

Soon, they were all lounging in the shade of the big shade tree, watching the sunset over the small courtyard walls.

"What Division do you guys want to join?" Yamada spoke to nobody in particular.

"I'm trying for the Sixth, to serve under Captain Kuchiki." Ryu responded, predictably.

"I'm thinking Fourth, because I'm no good with zanjutsu." Thea seemed dejected.

"That just plain ain't true. You're beat Yamada two times out of three." Hamano interrupted.

"Yeah but he wasn't trying. What about you, Yamada?" Thea quickly changed the subject.

"I'm horrible with zanjutsu. I was thinking the second or fifth. Hakudo or Kidou." Yamada responded, still blushing faintly from Hamano's comment.

"What of you, Takumi?" Ryu questioned.

"I dunno, really. Maybe the eighth, considering how everyone says Captain Kyouraku is cool." he responded.

"Yeah but Vice-Captain Nanao is really strict."

"You're right, Thea, but she's Vice-Captain. It's the Captain I'm worried about." He responded quickly, already knowing Ise Nanao's reputation.

"As long as it's not the Eleventh." Yamada looked sheepish. Everyone agreed silently, staring quietly at the setting sun.

For a while, it was calm. Until they all felt it. The reiatsu of a Hollow. A powerful hollow. The pressure was breathtaking; literally. Thea and Yamada were on their knees, struggling to breath, while Hamano and Ryu stood up.

"Shit! A hollow?!" Ryu lost all semblance of his calm noble self.

Hamano's shoulders were sagging slightly as the massive hollow materialized inside the courtyard. It was a giant bipod, brown in color, with huge boney claws on all it's limbs, which numbered six total. Four arms and two legs. It let out an earsplitting roar and dove straight towards the group. Ryu and Hamano were grasping the bokken, preparing to defend themselves with all they had.

Hamano heard something. A faint voice. The world slowed to a crawl, the massive hollow pounding in slow motion towards them, ready to kill all four of them.

**That is not your blade. **

_"What the heck?" _

**Drop the plank and draw me.**

_"Draw...you?" _

**Trust me, Hamano. Draw me now!**

He dropped the bokken, which clanged to the floor. His reiatsu skyrocketed as he reached to thin air at his side. He grasped thin air and pulled, as he did so, a massive rocket of blue energy spiraled from his grasp, and he drew. A zanpakuto rested in his ready hand, it was not altogether special. The hand guard was a five point shuriken design, the hilt was wrapped in blue.

He stood straight, no longer under any pressure, as the oblivious hollow rushed forward, raising one arm and striking down at him. Hamano absentmindedly raised the blade and blocked the claws easily.

"You're slow and weak, Hollow." his voice was steady, calm. Ryujin and the others were backing up, staring at their friend, clearly thunderstruck.

Hamano pushed up, ducking underneath the next attack from the opposite side. He ran straight under the Hollow, slicing through it's leg and turning quickly, sliding backwards in the ready position. Both right side arms came swinging sideways as the hollow turned swiftly, roaring angrily as it's leg bled freely.

Hamano leapt, the Hollow's arms stuck in the wall and stopped right where Hamano had been. He landed on the arm and jumped again, slicing horizontally across the white mask of the hollow. The blade embedded itself several inches in the mask,

"Too shallow!" Ryujin ran forward, ready to help his comrade. But it was too late, the hollow had already raised a free arm and sliced down from his shoulder to his waist as he fell back to earth. Blood poured out everywhere, his gig completely ruined. He barely managed to keep his footing, struggling now against unconsciousness. The hollow let out a sickening laugh, lifting it's claws and preparing to finish the first year.

It was the last laugh. A black and white blur shot from nowhere and the mask virtually exploded. Landing safely on his feet, Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro turned and moved to Hamano, who had collapsed on the grass.

It was so soft. He could just sit for a while. The pain was gone, he couldn't feel it. He couldn't feel anything. He smelled something. Heard wind rushing through the leaves of an unseen tree. His eyes opened, but there were no trees. There was a calm woman with a large braid down her front, her hands were extended over him, glowing bright orange. He felt no pain.

"You're awake." Her voice was cool and kind.

She finished whatever it was she was doing and moved from his side. He was tired, too much to move his head. But his vision was suddenly filled with faces. Ryujin, Thea, and Yamada were crowding around him, asking him if he was alright.

"Of course I'm alright." he said, almost in a bored tone of voice.

"That was a high level hollow. Tell me, what is your name?" An unfamiliar voice came from the corner of the room. He propped himself up, and found himself eye to eye with Captain Hitsugaya, who was one of the few people that didn't tower over him. Hamano was shorter, slightly, but he did not have to look up.

"Hamano Takumi, First year in the Academy, sir." he tried his best to be respectful as possible.

"And you've already drawn your zanpakuto, that's unheard of." the young Captain responded.

"My...zanpakuto?"

"What do you think you were fighting with? I saw what happened, you managed to draw your sword. Very well done." his tone was serious, but then the rumors said that he was a frighteningly serious young adult.

"Oh..." was all he managed, he felt so tired. But he absentmindedly noticed that he was grasping the handle of a sword.

"You going to let go of the zanpakuto yet?" Hitsugaya asked, moving to grasp the blade. Ryujin and the others backed away from Hamano as the Captain slowly lifted the blade away.

"He grasped so hard it left imprints on the hilt wrap. Matsumoto, take this and find a sheath for it."

Hamano was already out cold, sleeping quietly. The rest slipped out of the room, to allow him to rest. He had done enough this night. Saved the lives of his friends and almost killed a very high level hollow. He woke early the next day, finding a sword and clothes by his bed, along with a note.

**You're allowed to carry the zanpakuto. I made special arrangements with the headmaster. -Captain Hitsugaya.**

He dressed quickly, ignoring the slight pain beneath the bandaging as he moved. He slid the sword through his obi belt and tied it off before he left the room. Two fourth division shinigami escorted him to the boys dorms, where he got the school stuff he'd need. He was late to class, everyone was already at the first class of the day, Zanjutsu.

He walked in late, with bandaging showing under his gi, and a zanpakuto that was most certainly not an Asauchi. And beyond that, his reiatsu was considerably raised. Enough to make the air feel thick and heavy. The heavyset instructor, having a note from the headmaster to allow him to be late, and to carry his sword, strode over.

"Lower your reiatsu, idiot. You're putting pressure on the other students."

It was clear this instructor did not like him, and probably never would. Due to him winning the spar his very first day.

"I don't know how...sir." Hamano responded, his head down slightly.

"Don't know how? Bull! With reiatsu like that you must be able to feel it. Are you mocking me?" The instructor was becoming angrier by the minute.

"No, not at all, sir."

"Very well then, if you're gonna mock me and lie to me, let's see how good you are. Got yer zanpakuto early so you think you're hot shit." he grabbed the collar of Hamano's gi, dragging him over to the dueling circle. He stood back, drawing his zanpakuto.

"No Asauchi this time. Draw and begin."

Hamano didn't draw. He spread his legs slightly, bending at the knees and resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Fine, don't draw, but if you get cut, don't...CRY." At the last word, the large man rushed forward, swinging the sword down at the First year.

The sword was on Hamano's left side, and as such, his right foot made the first move. He moved to the right, followed quickly by a left step forward. As he stepped, he drew his zanpakuto with lightening speed. The step having helped accelerate his sword to begin with.

The slice left a shallow wound on the instructor's stomach. Hamano had purposely kept the blade from going deep, lest he murder his teacher. "Do I win?" he asked, sliding backwards.

The large man was infuriated, he was bleeding slightly, and it only served to make him angrier. His reiatsu increased, as he began smiling.

"Flow, Atsumari." With those words, his blade became liquid, spreading and stretching with complete freedom, it lashed out at Hamano as he swung down. Not wanting to find out whether or not the water would cut him, he jumped to the right, sliding slightly to slow himself down. The water slammed into the ground and cut a large hole into the sparring area.

He could feel his wound reopening the hot crimson liquid was leaking out and soaking the bandages. He was panting, slightly, and his vision was blurring. A combination of the losing blood and the strong reiatsu. He heard the voice again. It was female, he deduced.

**Giving up already? **

_"Yeah right..."_

**Then stand straight and proud, Hamano. **

_"Who are you?"_

**There is nothing blocking your ears now. Listen now and call out my name!**

Hamano's reiatsu burned brightly, pressing down the students who watched the fight, confuse das to why the teacher needed to release his zanpakuto, and also wondering why Hamano's reiatsu felt stronger.

"Fabricate, Ethos!" He brandished the zanpakuto, which promptly disappeared in a burst of blue-white energy.

"...HAHAAHAHA. You can't dream of releasing your sword yet. The stress of it broke it! Hahahah!" the large man was almost doubled over laughing.

Hamano had been confused for a second, but with the female voice speaking calmly in his ear, he looked prepared. He raised his hands and quickly formed a ball of blue white reiatsu, his left hand over his right. His left slid outward, dragging reiatsu with it, and as it did, it formed a blade. The blade remained as energy for a second before solidifying to solid steel, and when it did, his right hand grasped the hilt which remained where the reiatsu was first formed.

He charged, rushing swiftly into range of the water blade. Who's surprised wielder was caught off guard. He barely managed to swing the water-blade down at Hamano, who somehow...disappeared. He didn't realize he was using Shunpo(which was a 4th year or higher technique.) to him, it felt like he was moving at normal speed, and the instructor was the one who was slow.

Said instructor barely managed to keep up, and swiftly blocked with his Shikai. Several students were on the ground, panting and the rest were having a hard time breathing. The reiatsu was intense, flowing from the two like sunlight.

Hamano moved back, another ball of bluish reiatsu forming in his free left hand. He lowered the hand to waist level, palm away from him, and raised it up. The ball formed into another sword with a plain cross guard and no intricacies. It was a simple zanpakuto, made from his reiatsu. And they were disposable. He rushed forward again, stopping at ten feet from his opponent, he used shunpo and dashed sideways, rushing forward with both swords at the ready. His opponent never stood a chance.

The instructor swung his hilt toward the blur that was his student, the water lagging behind as it strained to rip him to shreds. It wasn't going to make it, at this rate, Hamano would impale him upon two blades.

With a resounding clash, the blades came to a halt. All three of them. A massive figure stood, Hamano's first sword was broken in half, while the other was grasped in the giant's hand. The water blade, likewise, was stopped on the giant's body.

Zaraki Kenpachi, Captain of the 11th division, stood between them, grinning maniacally. The entire class was staring at him, wide eyed. He just stopped three blades from two shikai with his bare skin. The one blade in his hand slowly dripped with blood. A few drops trickled from his palm down the blade before he pushed it backwards, thrusting Hamano a good ten feet before he came to a stop.

The instructor bowed low "C-c-captain Zaraki."

Hamano meerly stared, it was evident he didn't know who this guy was. Said guy only had eyes for the first year student.

"You managed to cut me. Even your teacher couldn't cut me at all, but you made me bleed. Not bad, kid." As he spoke, a mound of pink hair raised from his shoulder, soon revealing itself to be a girl. Yachiru Kusajishi, Vice Captain of the 11th division. Again, Hamano was clueless, but he felt the reiatsu coming from the two of them. Wild and fluctuating, and more powerful. But it was somewhat controlled, funneled. The students who were twenty yards away were completely unaffected, but Hamano was. His shoulders sagged and he was pushed down, almost to his knees. The now broken zanpakuto dropped from his hand and vanished, the blue white reiatsu returning to Hamano's body.

Zaraki grinned, gesturing at Hamano. "What a useless release. All it does it make weak zanpakuto. You're lucky they cut me at all. You'd be better off with your sealed blade." Yachiru giggled. "Yeahhh, Kenny says it's stupid!"

Hamano didn't lower his sword, he kept it up and at the ready. The man was large and imposing and he looked like he was ready to kill. Not to mention the all the large scars on his exposed torso.

Without warning, Hamano dropped to the ground. His swords disappeared and his Zanpakuto reappeared inside it's sheath.

"Che. Kid passed out. That's what he gets for releasing his zanpakuto so quickly." Zaraki frowned, his hand fell from the hilt of his blade. He was hoping for a fight.

Ryujin and Thea ran to their fallen comrade, lifting him up. Yamada, meanwhile, had run to get help. The instructor left for the infirmary to heal his wound, and Zaraki and Yachiru were stuck with the class.("I came for a fight and I get to watch a bunch o' brats.") Hamano groaned as he was lifted.

"What...happened...?" he spoke quietly, exhausted.

"You released your zanpakuto. When did you learn it's name? And WHY didn't you tell us?" Ryujin was excited, it was clear. He even raised his voice for emphasis.

"I...don't know. I just heard some girl telling me her name. I can't remember much."

"You beat the instructor, even though he used shikai. You were so fast and strong. Some of the kids were on the ground almost suffocating." It was Thea that spoke this time, she was smiling weakly, clearly worried about her friend.

"And you opened your wound, idiot." A new voice joined the fray. Captain Hitsugaya was leaning against the wall. "Glad I stayed here, just in case you couldn't handle it. Give me your sword." He held his hand out expectantly.

"Wait...I can explain, sir. The instructor challenged me! He said...something...about me mocking him. He released his sword, I didn't know what to do!" Hamano was panting as the blood seeped through his bandages.

"No first year has ever released his or her zanpakuto. There's a reason. Your powers aren't matured enough to handle the stress. Go to the infirmary and get rewrapped. But if you pull anything like this again. It's over."

Who knew someone so short could be so scary? Even the Noble Kuchiki was scared of the tone used in Hitsugaya's voice.

They made their way to the infirmary, where the head nurse scolded him repeatedly for even thinking about fighting with this new of a wound. Right after he got new bandages and rehealed, they left, not wanting to endure more lecturing.

They left and headed to Kidou class, and they were happily surprised to find that almost nobody was in their zanjutsu class, and so there were very few people talking about the incident. They knew, however, that it would be a brief reprieve.

The news spread fast, Hamano quickly became irked at all the people whispering whenever he was around. Even some of the teachers were talking about the incident. He took to yelling at people whenever they whispered and pointed at him. Thea and Ryu insisted he calm down and ignore them, while Yamada continued to pretend nothing had ever happened. It was easier for him to cope that way.

They soon found themselves in the dinner hall, discussing the first binding spell in kidou class.(Thea and Yamada did a better job than Ryu and Hamano) And asking how it could be done better.

"Hey, Thea, Yamada. I'll make you a deal. If you teach me to be better at Kidou, I'll teach the two of you swordsmanship." Hamano leaned over the table towards the two, raising his hand.

Yamada grabbed it and shook it quickly. "That's a deal!"

Thea nodded, "Sure. So long as I can get better."

Ryujin, who was proficient in everything, frowned. "Well, at least this'll give me time to practice on my own."

Beo, who was not too far away, heard their little deal, and decided he was going to use it to his advantage.

"...Perfect."

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Longer chapter, and I know, a first year achieving Shikai is bull. But it's okay. Reviews update faster. So review!

Blarggy


	3. Chapter 3

Outcast, Chapter three.

A Bleach fanfiction

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or anything besides my laptop.

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Hamano's wound healed within the next two months, which went by fairly quickly. Hamano and Ryu were getting better at Kidou, and Yamada and Thea were certainly getting better at Zanjutsu and Hakudo. The one class all of them were acing was Hohou, they were all learning shunpo, and granted, they could only go three feet, but it was something for first years.

The four were relaxing under the same tree where they'd been attacked by the hollow. Nothing interesting had happened since then, and they were slowly falling into a routine.

Go to classes, go to lunch, eat by the exit, go to classes, go to the tree to practice, go back to dorms.

It was a routine, alright. And also boring. Hamano had since been asked twenty four(yes, he was counting) times to release his Zanpakuto, and had done it twice, under the requests of the Headmaster, and the new Zanjutsu instructor.(The former had been fired for several violations.)

Hamano rather liked the new instructor. Shalte-Sensei was a tall strict looking woman, but she was, in actuality, a kind and wise individual. She had no reservations about telling you what was on her mind, or telling you exactly what you were doing wrong, and she'd mention it if she thought you were stupid. She, Hamano was sure, liked him. Whether because he was adept at Zanjutsu or because he had shikai, he probably would never know. But she tended to give him higher level instruction than the rest of the class, in order to help him progress faster.

Ryu and Hamano were busy sparring, as usual. Occasional thumps were heard as one got the upper hand for a minute and threw his opponent down. By the end, they shook hands and smiled, both panting from the effort. They both tossed themselves down once inside the cooling shade of the tree, leaning up on their elbows. They watched Thea and Yamada, who were practicing the first binding spell, without saying the full incantation.

"Bakudo one, Sai!" Thea swung her arm sideways, and Yamada's arms were jerked together behind his back, falling slowly onto the soft grass. She released the spell a few seconds later, smiling.

"Nice one, Thea." Yamada said, smiling. "You did it perfectly without even using the incantation."

She shook her head modestly. "It wasn't very strong."

"It bound me, didn't it?" he responded.

"Yeah, don't be so modest, Thea." Hamano added, smiling.

She allowed herself to smile.

They walked back to the entrance of the girls dorms with Thea, saying their goodbyes, the three boys set off in the opposite direction toward their dorm room. The first year girls dorm area was set up like a single massive mansion with about a hundred rooms. The boys, however, was set up more like a small village. It was tightly packed sets of three room houses. Two dorm rooms, three boys each, and a bathroom per house. Naturally, Hamano, Ryu, and Yamada ended up on the roof of their dorm building.

"Urayuri, when will you tell Thea how you feel?" Ryu asked, calm as ever.

Yamada blushed furiously and crossed his arms. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, Ryu, it wouldn't hurt to use our given names. You're not talking to Nobles here." Hamano interjected "And no, I won't stop calling you Ryu. 'Kuchiki-sama'." he added, smirking.

Yamada, glad the topic of conversation was off him, uncrossed his arms and stared at the stars that were appearing as the sun lowered behind the horizon.

Hamano's eyes started straight up, tilting down slowly, the sky changed from near black with winking white stars, to velvety violet, down to dark blue, sky blue, yellow, orange, and finally, nearest the sun, red.

"Hey...Ryu, Yamada." his voice was quiet.

"Mm?"

"Yes?"

"Let's go to bed." he said, jumping down into the window into their room.

"And here I thought he may say something profound." Ryu said, climbing down.

"I was GOING to, but I think Thea should be here too." Hamano yelled from the bathroom.

The next day was coming to an end quickly, they were already in their last class, Zanjutsu. Shalte-Sensei was demonstrating a sidebladed block, followed by a twist of the wrist and a push of the blade, effectively cutting into your opponents shoulder. She, of course, used Hamano as her dummy. Instead of the actual straw dummy that was in the corner. As she executed her attack, pressing the bokken to his shoulder, she whispered something in his ear.

"Stay after the class, please."

he gave a small nod, bowing to her as usual.

"Now," she directed the class in a clear voice. "Everyone split up into pairs and practice parrying." Predictable, Ryu and Hamano ended up a pair, as did Thea and Yamada. Ryu and Hamano did it a few times before slowing to a languid pace. This was child's play for the two of them. Thea and Yamada practiced until the bell rang. Hamano stayed back with Shalte-Sensei, and Ryu, Yamada, and Thea hid themselves at the entrance to the Zanjutsu courtyard, trying to hear what was being said.

"I think, of course, that you have the potential to be a great fighter. I want to train you, Takumi." Shalte was saying.

"Train me? As in, private training?"

She nodded "Yes. Every Wednesday after school, for two hours, if you will."

He smiled "Sure, as long as we can get away from the easy stuff."

"I intend to. Your Shikai will certainly be honed." she said, mimicking his smile. "It'll be fun."

"Yes ma'am." he added, turning toward the exit.

"Starting tommorow."

The three eavesdroppers figuratively pounced on him asking for details.

"You're getting trained by Shalte-Sensei?"

"Alone?"

"She's gonna help you with shikai?"

"That's so cool."

"Yes, yes, yes, and I know." Hamano answered. "Now, we need to get to Dinner, and then we need to get on the roof." he said, nodding toward the courtyard wall near the tree, it was twenty feet tall with a wide roof.

"Er...okay then." Yamada said as Thea nodded.

"Sure," Ryujin added.

They walked to the dining hall together and took their usual seats nearest the door. Chatting animatedly. Finally, Thea mentioned something of some importance.

"You know, all the Captains are coming to the school tommorow. They're going to observe first and third year classes and look for potential recruits."

Hamano paused for a moment, listening, Yamada spoke up.

"So Captain Unohana will be here too? I hope she sees me with my healing kidou! I've been practicing alot lately." he said quietly.

"Perhaps Captain Soi Fon will take interest in me." Ryujin added.

"I'm hoping Captain Kyouraku and Vice-Captain Ise can see my kidou, as well." Thea remarked calmly. They all directed their views to Hamano, blinking. He didn't respond immediately.

"I'm trying for Squad Five." he said, eyes downcast. They knew why, ever since Captain Kurosaki and Vice-Captain Kurosaki had taken over Squad Five, it had changed from kidou based to Zanjutsu and Kidou. And it was near impossible to pass the squad tests. As a result, those in Squad Five were the best of the best, They even had a Captain-Class Arrancar as their third seat. More specifically, a former Espada known as Nel.

"If anyone can get in right out of the Academy, it'll be you, Hamano." Ryujin stated simply, a small smile on his generally impassive face. "He's right" Thea added.

"Yeah I know, but the Vice-Captain and third seats are both Captain Class, And Captain Kurosaki is...well, he's amazing. The Strongest Shinigami that ever lived. Probably stronger than the Captain-Commander. I'll probably get the lowest unseated position in the division." Hamano added, taking a drink from his tea.

"I doubt it, you do know Shikai, after all." Yamada said, finishing his food.

"Yeah..."

They finished soon afterwards, and moved to the wall. Ryu and Hamano jumped up with a simple version of Shunpo, they helped Yamada and Thea up to the top. From where they were, they could see across the large forest to the west of the Academy. The sun was setting below the trees, casting a brilliant orange glow over the forest.

Hamano smiled, then turned to his companions. "Now I can say what I was going to last night."

"Oh? And what's that?" Thea questioned.

"We gotta' make a pact. That no matter what happens, we'll always be friends. And that someday, maybe a thousand years from now, we'll all become Captains." he said, staring at the sunset.

"That's deep, Hamano. Then let's make it official." Ryujin said, presenting the palm of his hand.

Thea understood what he meant by presenting his palm, and she nodded, laying her palm flat beside Ryujin's.

"Seal it in blood, then." Hamano smiled.

Yamada, was, as expected, reluctant, but since he had practiced his healing kidou, everyone knew his protests were in vain, and soon, his palm was beside Thea's.

Hamano drew Ethos, the ringing vibrated as he lay his palm before Ryu's, his face firm. He lay the edge of the blade along their hands, which were set up pointing to the sky and side by side. They nodded at him, signalling their readiness.

He pulled the blade back sharply, cutting into all four palms at the same time. Nobody flinched, and the blood pooled slowly in their palms, overflowing and mixing together in each other's palms.

"Sealed in blood, we make this pact. We will always be together. We will always be friends, and we will, one day, become Captain's of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads." Hamano said firmly.

Their blood dripped together to the tiled roof at their feet, and they stared at the sunset. Their hands slid to their sides, slowly dripping. Nobody wanted to heal the wounds, It was too symbolic, really. Hamano sheathed Ethos and smiled, "We're gonna do it." he said, "We'll do it."

The group split with Thea and they all went to their dorms, going to bed soon after wrapping their wounds by a single layer of cloth.

The next day was, perhaps, the slowest day in recent memory. Even Zanjutsu and Hakudo classes seemed to drag on for hours and hours. History class...well, Hamano and Yamada fell asleep at their desks, while Ryujin and Thea both pretended to be alert and listen, but in actuality were just daydreaming. Finally, the promised time came, the end of the school day. Hamano immediately went to the Zanjutsu field, where Shalte was waiting.

"I see you brought your fan club." she said, shifting her weight from one side to the other in the middle of the sparring circle.

"We are NOT his fanclub, Shalte-sensei, we're his friends." Ryujin said, sitting himself down by the entrance, leaning back against the wall.

"My best friend's, actually." Hamano added, stepping into the circle.

The Zanjutsu field was about an acre's worth of grass, with a few trees closer to the wall. In the middle of the field was a circle with a 30 meter diameter. The entire field was encircled by a one foot wide off-white wall with a tile roof. The wall was not made of sekki-sekki stone, but was sufficient in absorbing reiatsu so as to not affect the rest of the school.

Directly beside the Zanjutsu field was the Hakudo and Hohou field, which were one in the same. The Hakudo/Hohou field was a bit bigger than the Zanjutsu field, split in half. There was a full dojo in the Hakudo section, with plenty of grassy area for practice. The Hohou field had more trees, and even a few pole's up to thirty feet high. They were for practicing shunpo, Shinigami had to be able to control their shunpo, even landing on a small pole.

Hamano bowed to Shalte and waited for instruction.

"As you can guess, Takumi, we'll be fighting all out today. I'm going to test to see how far along you are. No Shikai, please. I'd rather not have to cut you." she said, a small smirk coming to her face.

Hamano didn't like that smirk.

"Er, okay." he said, frowning.

She drew her Zanpakuto, which was an average sized katana with a circular guard and a red hilt-wrap. At the tip of the hilt, instead of a rounded off cap, was a small spear-like point, about two inches long.

He followed suit, taking a very unorthadox pose.

"Hmm, very odd. You seem to have many openings, but it seems it will be hard to hit you." she said, holdind her sword in the traditional way, pointing toward him. "But how do you react?"

She stepped forward, slipping her sword down and slicing upwards to his left calf. His sword, which was at his right side, seemed to have no chance to move, and in fact, it didn't. He stepped his left foot backwards, and he pulled the blade back ever so slightly. Her blade rang through midair, slicing a centimeter into the obi on his academy outfit, continuing upwards into midair before she began to stop it, to pull it downwards to defend any rebuke. His blade swung up, slamming into her blade and adding to it's momentum. She couldn't stop it and bring it down, and by swinging his hilt forward, he swung it at her, hitting her near the collar bone.

Hamano felt a sharp sting on his arm, and pushed her backwards as he hit her. He had a small gash along his right arm, and Shalte's spear-tip had a few drops of blood on it. She smiled at him.

"Very good, but you've been cut. I have not." she said, bringing her blade to the ready. They clashed repeatedly, both pushing harder and harder as they went. Finally, Hamano landed a hit, albiet, a weak one, as he stopped himself, but he did manage to cut her left leg. He himself had four cuts on him, three from her spear-tip and one from the sword itself.

He was panting hard, dripping blood onto the circle, while she was standing straight and breathing easily. She called out to the spectators. "Thea, Yamada, please, heal Hamano." She had switched to first names, for two reasons. Hamano had earned it by fighting her, and doing fairly well, the others had by not being affected by the high mass of reiatsu coming from the two. Shalte had been a Vice-Captain at one point, before she decided to teach instead, so her reiatsu in particular was strong.

Thea and Yamada hurried over as Hamano sat down, cross legged. They began healing the wounds as best they could, which, as first years, wasn't much. They managed to stop the bleeding after a few moments, and the thin cuts pulled themselves closer together. But not sealed all together.

She smiled after a few more minutes "You may go, now, we try with Shikai. What do you say, Hamano?"

He mimicked her smile, bringing the sword horizontally, his right palm pushing against the point, and his left palm pushing against the hilt, suspending it in midair. A drop of blood pulsed from the fresh scar tissue where the point met. The spectators suddenly felt a tingle in their hands, and all three looked at the fresh wounds, blinking.

"Fabricate, _Ethos"_

As he said her name, he pushed upon the blade. Yamada winced, expecting it to cut through, but instead, it disintegrated into spirit particles as he pushed, finally fading all the way.

She scoffed "Already coming up with a dramatic way to release?"

She lifted her sword in one hand, pointing it at him.

"Puncture, _Methesuel_."

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Nothing much to say about this chapter. The rest of the fight will come next chapter, as well as much more. I still haven't QUITE decided what Shalte's Shikai will be, so feel free to make suggestions. Read and Review!

Blarggy


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